Madeline Christy reviews the new album from Sam Hunt – Southside – and reveals her standout tracks below, and the ones that she thinks the album could have done without.
It’s been a long three years since we’ve last heard from Sam Hunt. After releasing ‘Body Like A Backroad’ in 2017 and performing at the CMAs, Hunt seemed to go off the country grid. This month, we’ve watched Hunt release his sophomore album. However, is it possible that Hunt drifted the album release for so long that he’s unable to carry on riding the success of 2017’s wave, or is he able to catch his second wind?
The album opens with sleepy track ‘2016.’ The track doesn’t propel the listener into the energy that the rest of the album builds up to. A lot has changed since Hunt last stepped on the scene. Now, country hits are in a new era of ‘boyfriend country’ from the likes of Ryan Hurd’s ‘To a T’, Old Dominion’s ‘One Man Band’, and Chase Rice’s ‘Lonely If You Are’. These are just a few examples of artists who left the bro-country party scene and have developed into a lukewarm state of romance. Even frontmen Florida Georgia Line have stopped cruising to stop to count their ‘Blessings’. While Hunt continued to release singles over the six year gap between his debut and sophomore album, he rarely performed at live events such as award shows and late night television. At times, he seemed to exclude himself from the country conversation, leaving a gap between his music and the rest. This, of course, may be no bad thing. The opening track lacks contemporary relevance, in my opinion, and Hunt’s sense of swag and spoken word style (appropriate when Hunt was releasing singles during the same era of hip hop artist Macklemore) now lags behind the likes of Kane Brown and Lil Nas X.
Hunt’s current single ‘Hard To Forget’ will undoubtedly be a great track to perform live. It matches the energy of an early 2000s track (fashionable for using high pitched samples) and produces a range of texture through its differing frequencies. However, the song also works a tightrope – juggling a traditional country sound (as the track samples Webb Pierce’s ‘There Stands The Glass’) while addressing the new trap elements in mainstream country. While Hunt is able to achieve an unconscious and free flowing narration – which is what makes Hunt appear to be so relatable to listeners – the mix is inert, unable to bring forward Hunt’s story. Undoubtedly, Hunt has created a great and modern interpretation of the original and sorrowful story, and decorated the story into a summer positive breakup song, however putting both songs into the same batch doesn’t sit well for me personally.
In ‘Kinfolks’ Hunt swerves away from the usual 808-heavy mix he usually saturates his tracks in (like ‘House Party’), and opts for a cleaner approach. While the percussion production still doesn’t follow the traditional drum mix of Hunt’s peers, it does however provide a cleaner and crisper sound, allowing the string guitar melody to glisten.
One charm that Hunt has been able to hold onto is his small town boy mannerisms, capturing the bloom of native love in an honest light. This time round, Hunt’s songwriting allures more freedom and especially grit in ‘Young Once’. A deceivingly slow track erupts into a passionate whirlwind of young love during the chorus. So far, ‘Young Once’ has the greatest sense of space in the mix, through the flying strings and complex balance of 808 and natural drum timbre.
‘Body Like A Backroad’ was the first single to be released in anticipation of the album back in 2017, and truly showed promise for Hunt’s more assertive approach to sex (alongside ‘Sinning With You’), in the reserved country genre. The ‘heys’ on loop during the chorus give the track an old school throwback feel. Ultimately, it’s one of Hunt’s few slow songs that is able to avoid being a ballad.
Speaking of ballads, ‘That Ain’t Beautiful’ begins with Hunt’s style of singing/spoken word, and while this style introduced Sam Hunt as fresh, sleek, and the country version of Drake (all the way back in 2016), I personally find it doesn’t hit the mark in 2020.Â
It’s ironic that the energy of the album picks up during ‘Let It Down’. The track blends together honky-tonk country with strong pop beats, making it the perfect modern square dance track. While the chorus is punchy and Hunt’s vocals have never sounded so bold, the mix almost sounds messy, as it attempts to mix too many different elements, and is jumbled with too many people pleaser tones.
The loose Latin guitar riff in ‘Downtown’s Dead’ adds some profundity with lines such as ‘there’s no way I can paint a ghost town red’ to express Hunt’s hurt after his break up to girlfriend (now wife) Hannah Lee Fowler. ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ is oozing with soul and R&B, which makes the violin sound foreign. The track has the potential to be a great stand out track, perhaps even a future single. Lyrically, the song follows the style of Cheat Codes ‘promise me no promises’ as Hunt sings ‘just don’t say it’s nothing, cause nothing lasts forever’. If the track was to be remixed with some stronger and feisty bass, the message and intensity of Hunt’s words would really pack their punch.
Let’s be honest ‘Sinning With You’ is a risky song, even post-‘Girl Crush’. Hunt delivers this song with such elegance. The texture of the harmonies during the chorus are angelic. Here, when Hunt uses his signature spoken word slurs, it conveys such an eminent intimacy and level of vulnerability as he says ‘I hate it when I can’t feel the holy spirit’.
The spoken word style returns in ‘Breaking Up In The 90s’, but this time, instead of the technique missing the mark as it did in ‘That Ain’t Beautiful’, it achieves a breaking-the-fourth-wall effect during the verses. The chorus carries the majority of the song – it’s memorable and admittedly slick, but the levels of texture between verse and chorus differ so much that it interrupts the cantabile quality created in the first chorus.
‘Drinkin Too Much’ takes us to church with vibrant organ and 808. Hunt balances the quality of being private but not exploitive, I would even go as far to say as reading the song as a confessional.
While the whole album is a raw divulgence and Hunt obviously is taking serious risks with his levels of honesty within his marriage and conflicted relationship with small town religion, the production side of the record is under-baked and fails to rise to the hype of his debut works. It was long wait for the second album, but was it really worth it? I personally was underwhelmed.
Editor’s Picks
Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s
Drinkin’ Too Much
Body Like A Back Road
